F1: Mclaren first and third in qualy as Massa's error drops him out of top three

McLaren and Ferrari continued their ding-dong battle with surprising interference from Toyota's Glock. Home advantage may be playing into Toyota's hands to a degree but that alone cannot explain how Glock was fastest in several practice sessions and finished up in qualifying.

For the other Japanese team, Honda, the increasing failure of the team to produce a car that performs well is such an embarrassment that, if the rules allowed it, it would almost have been worth them staying at home. Both Button and Barrichello failed to make it into Q2 - in fact only the two Kingfisher cars ended behind them with recent star Sutil saying he was happy with his performace and only one second off pole. If he and Fisichella can get passed the Honda pair, then they may well be able to catch the midfield.

Fuji is a bumpy track - watch the pit lane to see that the undulations are so severe that there is a risk of the front of the car grounding on one bump as the back of the car comes down from the previous one. The track itself is not so bad but it's bad enough. Button says that this is at the heart of Honda's problems: to try to get grip, the handling is compromised and as a result both cars sugered from excessive understeer. But both cars are not that far off the pace: three and six tenths respectively would have put them into the top ten.

Williams pairing Nakajima and Rosberg are not emulating their famous fathers both of whom have produced stellar drives in Japan in the past. They qualified 14th and 15th respectively. Like most drivers they are saying, in essence, that qualifying was "just one of those things" and that the race will be the arbiter of how well they are doing. True enough: there are no points for qualifying.

Coulthard is winding down his driving career and each race is his last Formula One race at the circuits the series visits. Fuji is a historic track and he wants to do well this weekend. He missed the top ten by a fraction due to the approach he took to the last corner. He was two tenths faster than his Red Bull team-mate, Webber, who qualified two slots back in 13th.

As the cars line up two by two, it's the Torro Rossos that hold 9th and 10th with Vettel half a second ahead of Bourdais. If Red Bull II is outperforming Red Bull, is this due to the Renault engines in the back of the primary team and the Ferrari engines in Torro Rosso?

It may be: for splitting the two Red Bull drivers, in 12, is Nelson Piquet's Renault. He's just two places ahead of other two "sons of champions" in the series.

Demonstrating the wisdom of no longer having Ralph Schumacher in their cars, Toyota's Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock have put their cars 6th and 7th. As Glock has got to grips with the car, Trulli has lifted his game and as the season comes to a close it is clear that this is a team that has drivers that work well together yet compete hard on the track and a back-office that is, after years of fumbling, at last getting focussed and delivering a car that goes. Whilst there is no word, one wonders if there has been a change in management approach and whether there is less interference in the team from Toyota's senior management which had always sought a direct and very hands on approach to the team despite having limited knowledge or understanding of the operational issues in the sport.

The top five delivered some last-moment surprises.

Massa had been going well all session and was the fastest across the three sessions. But in Q3 tyres and fuel load ruined the balance of the car and he qualified 5th. His team couldn't fix it and he was more than four tenths off pole. He hinted that Ferrari have the same problem at Fuji that has plagued them all season - getting the tyres up to operating temperature. That will make the first corner exciting.

Alonso still won't make a decision who he will drive for next year - or at least he won't communicate any decision he has made. It is possible that this is a Briattore tactic to destabilise the other teams as Renault finally drag themselves up the grid - and achieve the goal of a win (in Singapore). After all, next year the cars will be very different. Alonso has complained that Renault has abided by the non-development rule for engines for this year but he suspects others have not. He may be right: the telemetry from some cars shows an increase in RPM over the season. Alonso is fourth.

Raikkonen is second, splitting the two McLarens. He is "pleased" but "not totally happy" with that: he would prefer to be on pole.

So pole and third are the McLaren pair. Hamilton was nowhere much going into the last allowable lap. Kovalainen was quick but not a match for Raikkonen. Then the two Mclarens seemed to find the "go" switch. The bracket Raikkonen with Hamilton a convincing two-tenths ahead of the Ferrari.

All the top drivers have said they were carrying a heavy fuel load in Q3.

In strict contrast to Singapore which is hot and humid and the race is run at sea level (actually, it's about three metres above), Fuji is cool (about 20 degrees expected for the race), humidity is far less - and the circuit is in the thin air of 1000 metres above sea level. Engine performance is greatly reduced in low air pressure.

And there is a difference in the rain, too. If it rains in Singapore, it is normally a violent downpour for about an hour, then it stops, the sun comes out and the place steams (it rarely rains after dark in the tropics although that is changing with global warming). Rubber is not fully washed away because the water goes off so quickly. In Fuji, if it rains, it generally rains for hours, in a persistent heavy shower. That cleans the track of the rubber that's been laid down before. But if there are light showers, then that makes the surface oily and slippery. Because of the cooler temperatures, even when it stops raining, the water doesn't go away so quickly. And showers are forecase for the afternoon. If it's windy, then the track will dry faster - but the aerodynamics of the cars will be upset.